Tiger Newspaper Vol. XCVII, No. II

Tiger spirit not dampened on Color Day

WASC is coming

By Max White Staff Writer As a member of the Western Association of Schools and Colleges (WASC), South Pasadena High School is required to conduct periodic self-evaluations in order to keep its class credits and diplomas from becoming invalid. This process, called accreditation, must be repeated this schoolyear as part of a six-year cycle that began when SPHS was last certified in 2005.

The high school faculty, along with student and parent volunteers, has worked to provide an in-depth analysis of our school’s strengths and weaknesses. Teachers and staff-members have been placed into one of five “focus groups,” which study the organization, curriculum, instruction, assessment or culture and support of our school. The findings will be put into a report that explains how successfully the school has dealt with faults, as well as how it plans to remedy the problems it currently has.

In spring, a WASC accreditation team will gauge our school’s improvement by reading this report and visiting classrooms and teachers. The faculty hopes to earn another six-year term between accreditations, but may be granted a three-year or limited term instead if WASC feels that the school didn’t sufficiently meet the goals that were set six years ago.

“We know we have a great school here, so our WASC report will give us the ability to show it off and make it shine!” said WASC leadership committee member Maryann Nielsen. If everything goes according to plan, the WASC accreditation committee will share this Tiger pride when they pay SPHS a visit next spring.

By Clair Fuller Staff Writer

Edmond Mandin-Lee

Senior Clarke McRae rallies her classmates and teaches the faculty how to dougie.

TASP objects to large cash reserve

By Brendan Perry Staff Writer

Jennifer Kim

Mr. Sean Regan makes a point during the Oct. 20 WASC focus group meeting.

Campus supervisor Mr. G called Color Day 2010 “richer on ideas”—and he wasn’t mistaken. An annual SPHS tradition for the past 72 years, Color Day has always been a showcase of Tiger spirit, creativity, and enthusiasm, and this year was no exception.

Despite the rain, students packed into the gym for the assembly and joined in the “S… P…H…S!” cheer, led by Commissioner of Assemblies Zane McPhee and Commissioner of Spirit Angelina Palamino. Performances from Pep, band, and drumline were met with applause, as was the senior class victory in both the banner and class participation competition.

Other highlights included senior Clarke McRae teaching members of the faculty how to dougie and the annual Rio Hondo League battle.

Also announced were the homecoming princess nominees and the winners of the Best Dressed competition. The assembly itself was also a hit. “It was really loud and crazy, and everyone had really great costumes,” said sophomore Anastasia Velicescu.

Despite this year’s overcast weather, everyone was able to enjoy the traditional Color Day energy, agreeing that this year’s festivities exceeded expectations. “I’m sad it’s my last Color Day, but this has been the best of all my years here,” agreed senior Morgan Daley.

Freshmen appreciated their first taste of SPHS’s favorite ritual. “It was really fun,” said Alexis DeGuzman. “Yeah, except for the ‘Freshman Suck’ part,” said Janely Bonilla-Mendoza.

South Pasadena teachers paid for an advertisement in the South Pasadena Review on September 29th, informing the public that the district is allegedly tying up education dollars by maintaining a cash reserve six times the required level.

The Teachers Association of South Pasadena claims that by doing this the district is withholding educational services from the students.

TASP member Rae Luce said the purpose of the advertisement “was to let

the community know that the district has a lot of excess money that they are not using to help the students.” Luce says the district is being “unethical,” asking the community for more donations, telling them schools are in trouble and in dire need of money when in actuality the district is better off than a lot of districts.

TASP understands why the district wants to have more than the minimum 3% in reserves, but feels 18% is excessive. “Some of that money should be used to reinstate school programs,” Luce said.

SPUSD superintendent Mr. Joel Shapiro says that the district needs to

have the large reserve, projecting that it will have to cut the reserves to 12.1% in 2011-12, and 4.2% in 2012-13. Shapiro says that the reserves will continue to decrease because of “an ongoing structural deficit, which means our total annual expenditures exceed our total annual income.”

Shapiro said in a public statement that the district plans to eliminate the structural deficit by “reducing compensation costs through furlough days, increasing class size from 34 to 36 in grades 6-12, which would result in some reducSee “TASP” on Page 2

Students file out for Great Shake Out

By Christine Chen Copy Editor A low rumbling sound erupts through the school as students duck and cover before heading out to the football field to take a head count that ensures their safety. It is 10:21 AM on October 21, and 7.8 million people are practicing a statewide earthquake drill as part of the 2010 Great California Shake Out. These participants are not only students, but are also citizens from government facilities, businesses, and retirement communities who have joined the effort to practice safe procedures in case of emergency.

The Great California Shake Out prepares residents of the Golden State for its worst nightmare. Earthquakes in California are common;

several earthquakes have already struck California this year, most notably the Baja California earthquake during Easter Sunday, which measured a significantly dangerous 7.2 on the moment magnitude scale.

As a prominent earthquake state, California may as well be impacted with another earthquake in the near future, and it is best to be prepared for such a circumstance.

As for the drill’s efficiency, Assistant Principal Mr. Terrance Dunn said, “I think the students and faculty in general behaved as effectively in the drill as they would have in an actual emergency.” Dunn says that he plans to hold another schoolwide drill in the spring, as well as continue participating in the Shake Out next year.

Sam Gurley

Junior Chelsea Reynolds and sophomore Angelique Ulmer play Twister during to pass the time during the “Great California Shake Out” yesterday.

News 2

Tiger - Friday, October 22, 2010

News

Around Campus

The American Red Cross will host the first of two blood drives on Thursday, October 28th. The drive will last throughout the the school day in the practice gym, and students with assigned appointments will file in to donate and recover before returning to class. To prepare for giving blood and to prevent dizziness, the Red Cross recommends students get at least eight hours of sleep and eat a healthy breakfast and lunch.

Invisible Children assembly captures student attention and concern

By Libby Rainey News Editor

Sam Gurley

Students watch the Invisible Children Assembly in the auditorium on Oct. 8. A film about the program in Uganda was shown and representatives discussed pressing issues.

South Pasadena High School hosted representatives of Invisible Children United in an assembly on October 8th, and in turn encouraged a surge of involvement for the school-wide club. Invisible Children is a group dedicated to spreading awareness and support for suffering children in the current ravaging war of east Africa.

The assembly featured a short documentary on the personal experience of an American support group in Uganda. While the video alerted students to

The lowdown on furlough days

By Sofi Goode Staff Writer This year, South Pasadena schools were scheduled to have an extra four days off. Students rejoiced, but the reason behind the days was grim. The product of California’s budget crisis, they were christened “Furlough Days.”

In recent years, the State of California has cut 10% of education funding. To cut costs, districts statewide have shortened their school year. In South Pasadena, these days are known as Furlough Days. The four designated days – October 18, March 21, June 16 and June 17 – were to be unpaid days off for all staff, administration and students. However, since the School Board

meeting this Tuesday, all of the future Furlough Days have been abolished.

Ms Elizabeth Eiliers, a representative on South Pasadena’s school board, was understanding of the difficult situation. “Staff is understandably hesitant to take a salary reduction,” she said, “but [Furlough Days] are a reasonable way of honoring salaries while cutting costs.”

Not all were accepting of Furlough Days, however. AP Physics teacher Judy Sammis was firmly against them, although not because of the pay cut. “Everyone is bearing the brunt of this,” Mrs. Sammis said. “But it’s the kids that are really feeling the effects.” Classes were losing entire chapters due to the shortened year. She is delighted that the days have been returned because,

as Mrs. Sammis said, “If I’m going to teach, I want to do it right, and I can’t do that if [the administration] takes days away.”

Adrineh Shakelian, president of the on-campus club Californians Acting to Reform Education, offers a student’s opinion.

The sophomore says, “[Furlough Days] affect teachers and students in a negative way. The underlying concern is that we are getting behind on curriculum and rushing through other things.”

Regardless of opinion, the school board meeting this week means the end of Furlough Days this year.

Though no one person got all of the things he or she wanted, no one lost everything. The vote is in and the bills are in place—for better or for worse.

the association’s largely unknown cause, guest speaker Fionah Rwaga had the greatest impact on the student body. A native Ugandan student of an Invisible Children-supported school, Sacred Heart, the young woman spoke of the incredible influence the program had on her life, and encouraged SPHS students to get involved. “There is still a lot to be done,” Fionah said, and asked members of the student body to attend the Invisible Children club meeting at lunch.

The club saw an increase in meeting attendance by over 100 students, who eagerly offered fundraising ideas to club president senior Virangika Perera. Perera was overwhelmed by the student response the assembly elicited, remarking, “I was surprised at the amount of outreach! I didn’t expect to see football players hugging Fionah!”

Invisible Children kicked off its fundraising this year with “Change 4 Change,” a cash collecting project around campus that will run from this week through November 19th. The club emphasizes that every cent raised will go directly to the organization, and donations from members will fund club costs.

Upcoming plans include a possible benefit concert and involvement in the “Schools for Schools” challenge, in which schools across the country compete to raise the most money to rebuild Ugandan academic institutions.

Invisible Children’s most recent meeting was held October 19th, and the “Change for Change” program is currently underway. The club meets every other Wednesday in Room 125.

New law protects good samaritans

By Ande Withers Staff Writer

Salek. “When you have a personal connection to the issue,” Portantino said, “you fight even harder to get [the legislation] through the system.”

Portantino introduced the legislation, which has received immense support, following a suggestion made by Kathy Hernandez, president of the PTSA

In California, teens under the legal drinking age of 21 that have consumed alcohol can be prosecuted for violating the law, even if the only reason they have been “caught” is because they are calling for medical assistance for an intoxicated friend.

However, starting January 1, there will be a new law protecting underage drinkers in this situation.

On September 30, Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger signed into law a bill that secures underage teens that have been drinking from prosecution if they choose to seek assistance in an al- Assemblyman Anthony Portantino presents at La Cañada High School. He cohol-related emergency.

A.B. 1999, also known says that Hernandez brought 9-1as the “Teen 911 Immunity Bill,” 1 laws to his attention long before was introduced in February by As- Salek’s death. “It doesn’t encoursemblyman Anthony Portantino. age teenage drinking,” Hernandez It has been said that Portantino’s said, “the fact is a lot of kids drink bill stemmed directly from the when they’re not [old enough], tragic death of his intern, Aydin and this is an incentive to do the

right thing and save a friend’s life when there’s an emergency.”

The new law, one of several 9-1-1 laws that already exist in New Jersey, Texas, and Colorado, will protect and provide limited immunity for up to two individuals under the age of 21 who seek medical assistance and remain with a friend who they believe is in danger. Portantino has said that the bill is intended to protect only a small number of teens acting in good faith, not a large group that is engaging in illicit behavior.

Similarly, the bill does not apply to teens that are under the influence of illegal narcotics.

Tai Carter “We will work the 911 bill. through the state PTA, through college campuses, through social networking. We have to make sure young people know about this issue, and we have to reach them by all means necessary,” Portantino said. “...

This one was personal. This [bill] has the potential to save lives.”

Sam Gurley

Fionah Rwaga, a student from Uganda, speaks to the Invisible Children Club about how the program has impacted her life.

From “TASP” on Page 1 in some support positions, such as counselors and elementary arts teachers.”

While TASP understands that the district is facing a difficult challenge they feel that the district is overestimating how much of the reserves will be needed. TASP thinks that with

the amount of money the district has now and the additional $800,000 that will be coming through the federal jobs act, SPUSD will be fiscally stable.

TASP hopes that by printing the advertisement, the community will support the teachers’ efforts to free up more funding for student services.

Friday, October 22, 2010 - Tiger

News

Virtual Business successfully kicks off year

Drama hosts first in speaker series

By Harry Yadav Staff Writer

By Libby Rainey News Editor South Pasadena High School’s Virtual Business program hosted an enterprise training conference for the Los Angeles area on October 7th, ushering in a new year of activity for the successful ROP class. The conference included Virtual Business groups from Glendale, Santa Monica, Long Beach, and Los Angeles. The event successfully focused on allowing students to gain basic knowledge of the Virtual Enterprise program, and included a series of workshops led by business professionals.

Varsity Virtual Business is in the midst of developing their company for this school year, Coast Bicycles.

The idea behind the virtual company is to produce top-of-the line ecofriendly bikes for a fitness-oriented demographic. Junior Fedor Kossakovski, a member of the varsity team, says they are focused on making “the bike the new transportation system.” Kossakovski is one of thirty members of the virtual team, all led by Chief Executive Officer Eileen Suh. Other leaders of Coast Bicycles include COO Gabriel Kahn, CFO Steven Xing, and CTO Justin Wang.

The Junior Varsity Virtual class has also been developing their ideas, and has created Scenic, a wall decal

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Sam Gurley

South Pasadena High School drama director Mr. Daniel Enright is hosting and interviewing guests with professional experience in the drama industry.

The events, which are free of charge, will be held once a month throughout the school year in the Little Theater. Especially intended for students who wish to pursue a career in acting, the series is hoping to expose students to successful professionals in the industry.

The Little Theater held its first guest speaker, awardwinning actress Kathy Baker on October 4. Baker, who has won three Emmy’s for her show Picket Fences and has starred in such movies

as Edward Scissorhands and Last Chance Harvey, spent an hour and a half speaking to an audience that consisted largely of drama students.

Among the topics Baker discussed was her struggle to be a practicing actor while simultaneously raising a family. “I go to work, and then I come back home to my real world,” said Baker.

The next guest, playwright Del Shores, is expected to come in November.

Enright also plans on hosting guest visits from professionals in dialects, voiceovers, set designing, and auditioning.

So far, students are finding Mr. Enright’s creation beneficial. “It was an interesting insight into how actors get roles and how the industry works,” said senior Olivia Hulett.

Juniors Michael De la Torre and Calvin Chan, members of the JV Virtual Business Team, participate in an on-campus conference on October 7th. business, and Canopy, a company that sells animal hats.

The virtual business program as a whole has been working hard to build up ideas, logos, and products, and the students are now moving into a major research phase of development.

All this hard work is in preparation for the Bakersfield Trade Fair in December, where the SPHS varsity and junior varsity teams will compete with other programs to publicize the

companies they have created. If successful, virtual business will have the opportunity to continue on to New York for an international conference and trade fair.

Of the progress made by Varsity so far, COO Gabriel Kahn says, “We are looking really good. After we iron out a few wrinkles, we are going to be really strong and have a great chance of succeeding in every category.”

Edmond Mandin-Lee

Actress Kathy Baker charms at the Little Theater.

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Tiger - Friday, October 22, 2010

News

Drug dog alerts on seven backpacks

By Meghan Roche Staff Writer Mia, a Labrador Retriever who has been trained for the sole purpose of detecting scents associated with illegal substances including alcohol, certain prescription drugs, marijuana, and gunpowder was introduced to SPHS students during an assembly on September 30.

In the past three weeks, Mia has been brought to SPHS two times, each time alerting school authorities of multiple sources of the questionable substances.

Mia and her handlers arrived for the first time the day after the informative assembly to check for illegal paraphernalia. According to Assistant Principal Mr. Terrance Dunn, “We went to randomly search seven classrooms on campus, and picked up an alert on four different backpacks.”

The second visit yielded fewer results. In the course of searching through twelve classrooms, only three backpacks were signaled as suspect by Mia. “Most of [the alerts] have been from residual odors on either the

backpacks or something inside of them,” says Mr. Dunn. “There have only been two instances of finding the actual controlled substances or drug-related paraphernalia.”

The police have yet to be called to intervene in any situation.

Overall, the response to the presence of a “drug dog” on campus by students and faculty has been positive.

Most parents have been very appreciative, as well, according to Mr. Dunn. “On multiple occasions, our call has confirmed what they had already suspected.”

Sam Gurley

Neighborhood News: SPPD Officer Certa responded to a call about a tree brought down by inclimate weather at the intersection of Monterey Rd. and Kolle Ave Wednesday night.

New physics teacher joins SPHS staff students affected during the interim.

Asst. Principal Mr. Jack Smith and Mr. Papadakis visited the class whenever Mr. Leif Andersen started teach- they could to assist Ms Ring in an efing at SPHS this Tuesday, October fort to make the transition as smooth 19th, and has taken over the 3rd and as possible.

“The fact that we’ve been covering 5th period physics classes previously taught by Mr. Robb Guido. Andersen and having tutoring sessions and such replaces Ms Brianna Ring, the class’s means the kids are more or less up to long-term sub, and will be teach- speed,” said Papadakis.

Since the job is ing for the rest for only two class of the year. Ms periods, finding a Ring was coverteacher was chaling the classes lenging. “Par tly since Mr. Guido because of the took a sabbatistrange assignment cal at the end it was very difficult of September to for people,” said teach English Anderson. “There in a school in weren’t a lot of peoJapan. ple out there.”

After teachDespite the difing for 12 years ficult search, Anin LA, Andersen derson says that began teaching Sam Gurley the school was evening classes at Cal State Andersen at Thursday’s Shakeout. “ ve r y l u c k y ” t o find someone so L o s A n g e l e s.

His arrival comes as a relief to knowledgeable and experienced. students who have gone without a Andersen’s extensive background in permanent teacher for eight weeks. physics made him a strong candidate With classes covered by Ms Ring and for the job, with years of experience four extra practice sessions taught by teaching physics at the high school Mr. Dean Papadakis, the science de- and college level.

After only two days on the job, partment focused on making things as easy as possible for the students during Andersen looks forward to getting the frantic search for a teacher. Email to know the teachers and students updates were sent to the families of the of SPHS.

By Clair Fuller Staff Writer

News

Friday, October 22, 2010 - Tiger

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Tiger - Friday, October 22, 2010

Opinion

Opinion B B

Truth in Prop 19 arguments hard to weed out

to the rain on Color Day again this year. Why does God hate South Pas?

oo

to Ms Kadletz for teaching us how to “dougie.” We told you high school teaches important life skills. ravo

By Coleman Westfall Rainey Editor in Chief

B

oo to

banning scarves on campus. We’re not gang members. We promise not to strangle each other. We’re just cold... and have fashion sense.

B

oo to the water polo boys’ Color Day spandex. We could see your panty (Speedo) lines, boys.

B

ravo to the earthquake drill for getting us out of class for an hour. Like we’d really walk calmly to the field after a 7.0 quake? I’d go home and play COD. So chill.

B

oo to to the pointless bathroom hand dryers. Now all my “high fives” are wet. Fist bumps, anyone?

B

oo to Justin Bieber for allegedly punching a 12-year-old in a laser tag maze. But then again, he did get hit by a water bottle during a concert . Redemption much?

The Tiger

Sam Shin

Working the system, to what end?

Staff Editorial

Established 1913

CSPA Gold Medalist 2001 CSPA Gold Medalist 2005 CSPA Gold Medalist 2006 CSPA Gold Medalist 2009 Editor-in-Chief Coleman Westfall Rainey Managing Editor Marcus Kahn News Libby Rainey, Editor Jackson Atwater, Associate Opinion Devin Mitchell, Editor Luka Douridas, Associate Feature Lana Ho, Editor Jessica Moog, Associate Sports Carlton Lew, Editor Christian Miyamae, Associate Copy Editors Christine Chen and Kristin Gunther Photography Sam Gurley, Editor Edmund Mandin-Lee, Associate Photographers Tai Carter, Jennifer Kim, Kathryn Whitworth Staff Writers Michael Abelev, Wyatt Bukowski, Jake Folsom, Clair Fuller, Sofi Goode, Kristin Gunther, Kelsey Hess, Amber Laird, Chloe Lloyd, Brendan Perry, Meghan Roche, Joshua Roquemore, Alex Tranquada, Max White, Ande Withers Harry Yadav Staff Illustrators Samuel Shin, Daniel Willardson Managers Kennedy Diaz, Ads Angela Jang, Business Webmaster Makenna Sidle Faculty Advisor Mike Hogan

Tiger is produced by the advanced journalism newspaper class at South Pasadena High School, 1401 Fremont Ave, South Pasadena, CA 91030. Layout and photo imaging are completed on-site. Printed

by American/Foothill Publishing Co., Inc., Tujunga, CA. Signed articles appearing in Tiger represent the writer’s opinions and do not necessarily reflect the views of the staff, student body, faculty or administration of SPHS. Contact the publications office at (626) 441-5820 ext. 2615 between 8:00 a.m. and 4:00 p.m. for advertising rates and subscriptions. Tiger welcomes articles, letters or rebuttals. All letters must be signed and verifiable, but names will be witheld upon request.

“The reading is due Wednesday; the essay is due Friday.”

It’s Monday morning. There is an audible groan in the room as students think of how they’re going to manage reading a book—not to mention writing an essay about it—with everything else on their plate. They all hit on the same solution: SparkNotes.com.

Society is moving towards complete expediency— towards a time when people believe that life moves too fast to do anything fully. This phenomenon is obvious in our high school. It’s practically common knowledge that many math teachers only check homework for completion, not content. Students take advantage of this, doing a few math assignments the entire year and simply changing the date.

They smile, thinking of all the saved time and free points, never considering the reason the teacher assigned the homework. They never actually learned the math, did they?

Even outside of the world of high school, this attitude is clear. Remember those bailouts that the government gave to big-name companies to boost the economy? Instead, a good portion of the money became bonuses and pay rises

for the higher-ups. CEO’s chose to personally keep the money instead of stimulating business.

They thought only of their immediate financial benefit, not of what would happen when the company went bankrupt. There are examples of this phenomenon everywhere. The environment will deteriorate over the next fifty years, the nation will soon be run on foreign oil, and the world is being synthesized into so many bytes of data—but thank goodness, we tell ourselves, that all those repercussions will come some time in the future. The future that seems so far away, and therefore does not warrant our attention.

Why change our lifestyle today? Why change our values and our goals, to include the demands of the future? Why look to the long term?

The American Dream has always been that, with enough hard work, you can do anything. Now, the requirements have been simplified. From a young age, children are told that they can do whatever they want. The aspect of work—and of the time it requires— is forgotten in this new mentality. Every SparkNotes-ed essay and copied homework assignment shows that the present is all that matters.

In the fervor of any election, it can be hard to tell fact from fancy. But in the debate over Proposition 19, every argument seems to go up in smoke.

The debate over California’s legalization of marijuana has been taken to the national stage, filling hours of talk radio spots and news debates—yet no one on either side seems able to produce a substantial argument.

Retired hippies and college students would have you believe that cannabis is the answer to all of our state’s problems. They claim it will reduce gang violence, particularly in regards to the conflict at Mexico’s border.

A recent study conducted by the Rand Corp., estimates that the legalization of marijuana in California will reduce the revenue of dopeselling gangs by 2-4%. This is miniscule. Such a small drop in business would cause hardly any industry to fold—and particularly not organized crime that will still be exporting weed to the rest of the country.

Opponents of the initiative have rallied around the cries of public safety. “Drivers can smoke right up to the point of driving,” reads the headline of Public Safety First’s “No On Prop. 19” website. Is that really the best they can come up with? Drivers can drink right up to the point of driving. The initiative does nothing to affect current laws on driving while impaired, or working while high. It even adds restrictions to smoking around minors, and contains provisions pertaining to employment and smoking.

Proponents of the “Yes We Cannabis” movement also claim that Prop. 19 could be the end to our financial worries. State revenue estimates as high as $1.4 billion annually have been toted as the saving grace of the initiative.

But the state legislative analyst’s office has released an estimate much more modest: the state will save a few million dollars in incarceration and judicial processes. The report said that the projected revenue is uncertain, since U.S. Atty.

Gen. Eric H. Holder Jr. announced earlier this week that they would “vigorously enforce” the federal Controlled Substances Act. Both sides are trying desperately to influence Californians, and with voter confidence in the initiative higher than ever, it may be hard to weed out fact from fiction.

A failure of convention wisdom

By Devin Mitchell Opinion Editor On November 2, California voters will go to the polls to, among other things, vote on Proposition 19, which essentially legalizes the use of cannabis in California. The ballot measure has sparked debate throughout the state, and this conflict raises another question: why stop at marijuana? At this point, the government’s restriction of drug use is more trouble than it is worth. The War on Drugs has devolved into a waste of resources that fails to address the true issue of urban poverty.

The government, by way of the police, the courts, and the prisons, has spent, and continues to spend, millions of dollars and countless hours trying to prevent the use and sale of controlled substances. The various methods of enforcement, punishment, and incarceration exhaust public resources. Yet after nearly forty years of fierce anti-drug policy, what have we accomplished? Narcotic use has not been significantly curbed in that time. So shouldn’t we try something else, like making a greater effort to keep people from getting addicted in the first place? The aforementioned money

should be used for drug treatment and jobs programs that help the poor and the addicted, not for strict enforcement. We should help them with their problems and give them the tools they need to become productive members of society.

Incarcerating instead of assisting is no longer a viable policy.

Additionally, prohibition opens the marketplace to a profitable underground drug trade. And because drugs are illegal, this business is violent and adheres not to the government’s laws but rather to the ruthless rules of the street. For example, while shoplifting from a traditional retail establishment will

result in a minor criminal charge, stealing from a drug dealer is punishable by whatever harsh method the dealer sees fit. Legitimizing the sale of drugs will reduce the violence associated with this business. Just as the prohibition of alcohol stimulated criminal activity, so too has the prohibition of illegal drugs.

None of this is to say that the use illegal drugs is a good thing.

But ultimately, there are better ways to prevent that use than criminalizing it. The best way to help the poor and addicted among us is to reallocate enforcement resources to treatment and training.

Opinion

Friday, October 22, 2010 - Tiger

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A fad in three dimensions

By Alex Tranquada Staff Writer

Amber Laird

As human beings possessed of two working eyes, we are gifted with an ability known as “depth perception.” This means that our brain can judge distances in three dimensions, not just two. Combine this skill with the fact that every object we interact with on a daily basis has three dimensions, and life starts to look like a really well made 3D movie. The only noticeable difference here is that life, unlike a 3D movie, is not utterly pointless.

When Quentin Tarantino was making Pulp Fiction, he didn’t wish that he could make the barrels of Jules’ and Vincent’s guns pop out of the screen. Darth Vader would not have been any more evil if his hand was seemingly floating in front of the audience as he choked an Imperial official with the Force. Making a movie in 3D simply gives the writers an incentive to add in a scene with a bouncing ball, a dog licking someone’s face, or even just a character with an

unusually long nose. There’s an established precedent, set by George Lucas and the abomination he calls the Star Wars prequel trilogy, which states that if special effects are possible, filmmakers will use them, often at the expense of the movie’s artistic merit.

Dozens of 3D CGI plants and aliens do not make a good movie—take note, James Cameron.

But, you ask, what about Inception?

Or Toy Story 3? Or Up? Excellent films, and all released in 3D. Clearly, my argument is invalid.

The fact is, all of these would have been excellent in 2D as well. Inception had a fantastically well-thought-out concept behind it, and Toy Story and Up were typical Disney/Pixar genius. Christopher Nolan began working on Inception in 2001, 3 years before Hollywood even started taking 3D movies seriously. Toy Story has been around since 1995, and Pete Docter began writing Up in 2004, free from the influence of the third dimension. These films are among the IMDb Top 250 for a reason, and it seems

The circus comes to California

By Kelsey Hess Staff Writer It’s no secret that the California gubernatorial campaign between Meg Whitman and Jerry Brown has gotten ugly.

Their television advertisments have done nothing but belittle each other, and good advertisers know that they won’t gain support by bashing the competition. These advertisements might change a viewer’s opinion, though not necessarily to their side. Voters should be swayed to the candidate they want, not against the one they hate.

As more money is used to finance campaigns, lying to the public has become commonplace in recent elections. When a candidate lies, not only does this show the public that they are

desperate, but also that they are candidates riding the anti-incomfortable lying. Our governor cumbancy sentiment into office needs to be loyal, honest, and are fueling that fire themselves. ready to look out for the state’s The lack of positive solutions best interests. In a recent Whit- in television advertisements is man advertisement, “Lifetime in a reflection of the electorate’s disgruntled Politics,” Whitdisposiman claims that “crime soared” Voters should be swayed tion: frusw h e n B r ow n to the candidate they tration that was mayor of want, not against the the government can’t Oakland, even one they hate. solve anythough the thing. total number of crimes deEven the rare positive creased. Brown has exaggerated in his campaign advertisements advertisements in this electoo, and his “Meg Whitman’s tion are ultimately negative.

Nose is Growing…” is simply Whitman, in almost all of her childish. These types of ad hom- advertisements, explains that inem advertisements do not fos- she will treat California as she ter support for candidates, but would a business. Through this rather breed anger towards the “positive” message, Whitman is government. Ironically, political implying that the way California

is being run now is fundamentally wrong. She is implying that the political status quo is bad and that we need a new approach.

What appears to be positive propoganda is actually subtle criticism. Though California may not be perfect, candidates don’t have to be overly pejorative and suggest that everything about the political system is wrong.

Whitman and Brown should act like adults. Slamming their opponents will not earn them the respect of the voters. The efforts of their juvenile tactics only start TV catfights. This gubernatorial election has devolved into a circus, and seriously detracts from the legitimacy and dignity of a once respected position in government.

Crashing the Bieber-bash

By Luka Douridas Assoc. Opinion Editor I consider myself an avid music fan.

I am guilty of spending eons more hours improving my iTunes library than I do, say, reading or completing homework. Like anyone, I am picky with what I listen to, and I question the sanity behind some people’s music tastes. And let me make this point clear: although the bulk of this article may make you suspect otherwise, I really do not like Justin Bieber’s music.

Music. Let that specification be clear.

YouTube is one of the best ways to find new songs and artists. Often times when I find myself scrolling down to a video’s comments section, however, I see the same brand of hatred: an insult pertaining to Justin Bieber, how “gay” he is, and how “stupid” one must be to listen to his music. On a totally unrelated YouTube video.

I once came across an insightful

metaphor: You don’t walk into a Toys-RUs and complain loudly about how much you hate Barbies—that’s because they’re for little girls. Justin Bieber is for little girls.

You don’t have to listen to him—nor play with Barbies—if you do not want to.

Bad music aside, Justin Bieber did reach fame the old-fashioned way.

You have to admit that if you can teach yourself how to play guitar, piano, and trumpet, post YouTube videos of yourself singing solo, be good enough to amass a considerable fan base, and get subse-

quently signed by Usher—and all at the age of thirteen—you deserve a pat on the back. I don’t care how bad his music is: what he did was impressive. If you go out of your way to offend and insult someone based on purely your own opinion, especially if that person deserves at least a “congratulations,” you clearly have some bigotry problems.

Music exists because people enjoy listening to it.

Just as there shouldn’t be any such thing as a guilty pleasure, there really is no such thing as a “bad” taste in music. Sure, you may question someone’s musical preferences, but there is no reason to chastise anyone for it. I can’t prove that Justin Sam Shin Bieber is a nice kid, but I do know that he does deserve a little respect—at least a lot more than he has been given. And who knows? Most of those who bash Justin Bieber haven’t even heard a whole song of his. Take a listen—you might just become a “Belieber” youself.

Eh, fat chance.

highly unlikely that the reason is 3D. Of course, gimmicky 3D scenes never seriously detract from the plot of a film, and those who enjoy a movie’s effects and visuals more than its writing will be quick to point out that 3D can enhance those aspects. But even if you are one of those people, how can you be expected to enjoy a night at the cinema if you have to figure out how to look through your corrective glasses and your 3D glasses at the same time? Or if those tricky lenses give you headaches and blur your vision? 3D takes away from the moviegoing experience for a lot of people, and some simply cannot watch 3D movies at all. If James Cameron is right in saying that 3D film will be adopted as widely as color film was years ago, a significant portion of the population will be missing out on one of the world’s major forms of cultural expression.

100 years of cinematic history proves that two dimensions have served us just fine for decades on end. This sudden and extreme fascination with the third serves no purpose at all.

Give us time

By Libby Rainey News Editor High school experiences are said to last a lifetime, but their immediate effect on the lives of students is simply a list of letter grades on a transcript and extensive material to be used for college admissions essays. Yes, school has an impact on student social lives—how could it not? However, the underlying drive is almost always college, looming ominously over every flawed grade or mediocre SAT score. And as the years left of high school diminish, the pressure only increases.

This struggle with success is a necessary evil, as students face harsher and harsher competition for first-choice schools, and must do everything they can to be worthy candidates. Still, somewhere in the day-to-day hectic school atmosphere of student activity there is a disconnect.

School from kindergarten to 12th grade—a grueling, thirteen-year process focused on progress and development—is envisioned as a preparation for real life. But life is not based on academics alone, and high school cannot possibly teach everything that students should know. In high school, this development stage is nearing the end, and in order to insure that the long incubation period has been worthwhile, students must focus on achievement so they can advance on to successful schools—and eventually successful lives.

Thus the contradiction of high school is created: in order to prepare for success in the future, students are forced to focus only on their success in the present.

Although our performance today does have a lasting effect, it can be difficult to see beyond present achievements and failures, particularly when competing with peers. In addition, between homework, class time, extracurriculars, and squeezed-in time with friends, there is little time left to discover the things outside the school and community bubble. This tragically narrows individual perspective, causing students to materialize their outlook on life beyond high school despite all the efforts to prepare for what lies ahead.

Sadly, high school is an inescapable trap of busy schedules, and there is no clear balance that allows healthy amounts of both work and discovery. Thus, it is up to individual students to take the time to acknowledge the world beyond the orange walls of South Pasadena High School, and accept that possibly that a “B” in AP Biology will indeed still allow a successful career in a multitude of fields. Success is necessary in these crucial four years, but high school is also an important time to explore and enjoy outside pursuits that allow a broader view that will carry on to the “real” life.

8 Tiger - Friday, October 22, 2010

Opinion

Internet monopolies

By Marcus Kahn Managing Editor If history is any indication, unrestricted free market capitalism is dangerous. And as technological industry matures, and settles into its favorite brands, certain parallels can be drawn between the modern titans of technology, such as Google, and the giants of the late 19th century, like Standard Oil and the U.S. Steel Corporation.

Recently, in France, Google was officially declared a monopoly in the market of Internet advertising.

After refusing to advertise a company that told the location of traffic police doing sting operations, Google was sued. Perhaps, Google was in the right. Perhaps, it is better if people don’t know how to cheat speeding tickets. But Google shouldn’t have this power to choose.

A private company should not have such a direct hold on what we do and don’t see. Instead of limiting solely on the basis of moral standards, they could limit the searches based on the effect it could have on their business. In America 65% of Internet searches go through Google, and that percentage goes up to 90 in France.

But Google searches aren’t the only danger. Apple, after a brilliant decade of marketing, dominates the audio industry, and is holding the

consumer by the throat. The only way to use the new iPhone is to update your computer software as well. That means $300 spent on the iPhone (for which AT&T is the only provider), the monthly fees, and the $200+ for a software update. And in five years, I would be surprised if the most advanced Apple computer of today would be compatible with the newest iPhone of tomorrow.

But in terms of market domi-

I’m scared of what happens when, by sheer success, Apple or Google comes to dominate their respective markets ubiquitously. nation, Apple hasn’t broken any anti-trust laws. Anti-trust laws only combat unfair business practices in order to promote competition.

I’m scared of what happens when, by sheer success, Apple or Google comes to dominate their respective markets ubiquitously. Raising prices isn’t considered to be unfair business practice. Making your product so that every couple of years consumers need to buy new ones is not technically unfair.

But the fact of the matter is Google and Apple have been nurs-

ing an entire generation on their products, and because of this, that generation now depends on them.

Similarly, CocaCola bred our parent’s generation on their products, but there was a clear alternative: they could just drink water. Unlike drinks, technology needs to conform to the greater population or it is rendered useless.

If everyone had a different word processor, they wouldn’t be able to share documents. If everyone used a different search engine, how could any of them have the same resources as Google? Technology is, by nature, monopolistic because there needs to be a program like Microsoft Office, a website like YouTube (which Google owns by the way), or a device like an iPod so everyone can be on the same wavelength.

But what can we do? The kind of government necessary to successfully regulate huge multi-national corporations has to be huge. And thus we arrive at a conflict between huge government and huge business.

The best way to promote competition, and therefore protect the consumer, is to revise our anti-trust laws to limit market domination.

Though our modern techno-imperialists may not be abusing the consumer just yet, preemptive legislation is imperative if we want to avoid the mistakes of the past.

Being on time: an important life skill

By Chloe Lloyd Staff Writer In a competitive world where good isn’t enough, great is expected, and excellence is the norm, we, as students, have to do everything in our power to stand out in a crowd.

In life, timeliness will be expected of us in life regardless of the position, event, or outing.

In most situations, even, we are expected to be early. So, why is it that tardy sweeps have such a bad reputation?

Walking into a class at 8:01 and being sent straight to the office can be frustrating— especially when it makes you even later.

While I understand the frustration, it is easily preventable. Realistically, if tardy sweeps had never been implemented, I never would have have learned to be on time.

When tardy sweeps were simply an urban legend, I was regularly tardy. I wasn’t late for any legitimate reason, but there was also no real consequence for being late. And there are many others who were tardy just as often, if not more. This semester, because of tardy sweeps, my record is spotless.

It is easy to hate tardy sweeps. We can label them as unfair, poorly executed, and annoying. However, if you really think about it, they are a smart way to hold students accountable for their late habits, and to teach respect for teachers’, administrators’, and even our own time. I despise when teachers keep a class in at brunch, because it is disrespectful of my time. Should students not be expected to respect a teacher’s time as well? By coming to class late, you are not only being disrespectful to the teacher, but you make a statement that the class is not important enough for you to make the effort to be on time.

Granted, the school clocks tend to run a little bit faster than most of our cell phones

or watches. However, the school year has been in session long enough, and many of us have been enrolled at SPHS long enough, to be aware of this (minute) detail. So rather then being stubborn and complaining, why not just set your own clock to the school clock?

The fact of the matter is that tardy sweeps do not allow student to get away with laziness and snooze-button mishaps.Tardy sweeps teach us how to manage our time and prepare us for real life situations, assets which

will not only prevent us from getting that after school detention, but may even be the difference in getting a job or promotion.

There are legitimate reasons for being late, but they are few and far between, and in most cases administrators are sympathetic.

All in all, tardy sweeps do more good than harm. So, rather than look at tardy sweeps as another way the administration is cracking down on students, perhaps it is time to embrace the lessons that tardy sweeps have taught us.

Daniel Willardson

Tardy sweeps: a flawed system

By Meghan Roche Staff Writer Put into place to reduce the number of in-class disruptions, tardy sweeps have proven themselves to be good at keeping kids in class. However, they have caused far too many problems to be considered practical.

They strive to keep kids and teachers in synch, to reduce the number of distractions in class, and yes, they do drastically reduce tardiness, but the cons far outweigh the pros.

The administration has reduced the number of kids who are tardy, but they’ve also increased the number of Daniel Willardson class disruptions by making the entire process quite tedious.

For example, if someone arrives at a locked classroom door a minute or so late, they are then told to go down to the attendance office to get a tardy slip.

They will then spend up to five minutes walking there, and proceed to wait in a long line. By the time they finally return, students have missed at least ten minutes of the period and still have to present the slip to a teacher—posing a real disruption to the class.

When students have to take those extra minutes out of class, they end up missing much more than they originally would have. Occasionally, teachers will hold pop quizzes in that window of time and don’t let tardy students make up the missing grade.

At this point, the student not only has to spend an hour after school in detention and have a tardy on their record, but they’ve also missed out on points that could end up making or breaking their grades, come the end of the semester.

But the fact is that we don’t live in idealism, we live in reality. Five marks on your record, five quizzes missed, and five total hours of after-school detention is grossly excessive for what may have been a total of ten minutes of being late to class. Ideally, nobody would be late to class.

Obviously, there is an issue here. If the tardy sweeps must stay, then several changes need to be made.

A more obvious, audible bell tone could be installed to get students’ attentions better than the light chime they hear now. Additionally, if the administration wants to keep people from disrupting class, they should just set up a system to assign the detentions without sending students away. Compiling a list of tardy students and sending it down only once would be a more economical use of time and have the same outcome.

Quite simply, the system is not working. Wasting time in order to save it may seem worthwhile, but in the end, it keeps the antiquated attendance system inefficient and unreasonable. As long as tardy sweeps stay, they will remain a waste of everyone’s time.

Friday, October 22, 2010 - Tiger

Opinion

Evolution revolution

By Clair Fuller Staff Writer Since the publishing of Darwin’s famous Origin of Species in 1859, the theory of evolution has been hotly debated. Perhaps the most vocal opposition comes from those who find evolution and natural selection to be contradictory to their religious beliefs and feel compelled to drag faith into what should be a discussion of science.

Darwin’s concept of ‘survival of the fittest’ states that individuals within a species that are born with traits that help them survive will live long enough to pass those handy traits onto the next generation, until all members of the species have acquired the helpful gene.

It’s a theory with a staggering amount of supporting evidence and is commonly accepted as the best explanation we have. However, polls show that as much as 44% of the country believes that God created man “in present form,” that the earth and all life on it are creations of a supernatural being, a concept known as “creationism”. A similar theory, dubbed “intelligent design,” contends that life is too complex to have occurred by chance. By and large though, proponents of intelligent design are also creationists and their beliefs exist mostly in inherent opposition to the scientific explanations for the origin of life.

Although intelligent design is almost the antitheses of creationism, both advocates of creationism and evaluation can’t help but shove them into the same debate. In many states, intelligent design is even taught, in

science classes, alongside evolution as an “alternate theory” but treating creationism and intelligent design as viable alternatives to evolution does a disservice to both sides.

Evolution should be argued from a scientific standpoint, not a theological one. One draws conclusions from objective evidence, while the other implies belief in something that cannot be scientifically tested.

Only four in ten people say they accept evolution to be true, but there is nothing wrong with that. Belief—in science, God, or otherwise—is an individual choice. But no matter what you believe, theological explanations for the origin of life do not belong in the same category as scientific ones, and when they’re grouped together, one or both concepts inevitably suffers. Presenting creationism or intelligent design as a viable alternative to evolution does a disservice to all the ideas involved, because you can’t accurately compare two unlike things.

This isn’t to say that faith can’t coexist with evolution; believing in God and believing in Darwin are not mutually exclusive. Only one has a place in a biology textbook, however, simply because the job of a science book is to teach scientific thought, not religion. Trying to do both only undercuts the facts, which, after all, is what we should be focusing on in science class.

Each person’s faith is their personal decision—so if they choose to subscribe to a doctrine with no room for Darwin, that’s up to them. But it just seems wrong to muddy evolution and science with religion and belief.

9

Age is just a number on Facebook

By Joshua Roquemore Staff Writer The free time of teenagers can often be summed up in one word: Facebook.

Social networking sites, such as Facebook, have drawn a diverse crowd since their inception. People of all types can be found on any one of these popular websites, and contribute to their sundry population.

However, one particular group has often been rebuked for taking part: adults.

The adult presence on Facebook, especially parents, grandparents, and relatives, remains a controversial issue for youth today.

Some may enjoy this opportunity to connect with their elders, but others believe it should be restricted to youth and are in favor of an age restriction. Also popular is the fear that any unknown adult is some sort of cyber stalker. But are these thoughts justified?

Adults have attained memories and experiences which far surpass those of youth. The very mission statement of Facebook is, “to give people the power to share and make the world more open and connected.” If the intent of Facebook is to connect on a worldwide level, why should that be hindered by age? Teenage culture does not have to be so hostile to online adults.

Additionally, consider what will happen when those in our generation is adult.

As people age, they continue conforming to and following cultural movements. The

youth of today are no different, and will no doubt follow patterns of previous generations. While seemingly far away, the time for today’s youth to become elders is closer than some might think. The “Facebook movement” is no different from movements of the past, such as rock ‘n’ roll. Teenagers may someday find themselves on the outside of a cultural phenomenon and hope for a better reaction than they themselves have given.

To many students still living with parents, Facebook symbolizes freedom. Online networking sites may be the only haven that separates them from parents and relatives.

However, the argument that adults and parents on such sites will invade this personal space is theoretical. Facebook has supplied its users with several ways to interact online in a nonpublic manner. Also, requests from unwanted friends can always be denied.

Facebook and other networking sites are a part of young American culture, but this does not mean it should be limited solely to youth. It has established itself as a democratic platform – universally connecting and sharing ideas and information.

Such an accomplishment should be shared with and cherished by anyone willing to participate, not held selfishly by any one group. In expectancy of our own future, young networking site members should accept any and all people wishing to join this online revolution.

Drivers’ licenses should not be handed out

By Jake Folsom Senior Staff Writer Driving is a privilege, not a right.

This mantra is something that my parents chant at me every time I take the car out.

But despite this fact, more and more terrible drivers are passing the test and endangering innocent people. The fact of the matter is that the driving test has become too easy to pass, and in order to keep these unfit drivers off the road, we need to drastically change the current system.

Anyone who has taken and passed the California drivers’ test can attest to its simplicity. All the driver needs to do to pass is make a couple of turns, change lanes, and stop at stop signs – simple every day driving tasks.

Yet, miraculously, some people still manage to fail it multiple times. If a person cannot complete this simplest of tests, what business do they have controlling something that is essentially a screaming metal death trap?

After failing the test three or four times, you should not be allowed to take it again. This may be a radical view but it is a foolproof way of keeping incompetent drivers off the road. If someone was taking the test for the third or fourth time, and knew that they would never have another chance, they would drive more carefully when they took the next test.

If unfit drivers were never allowed to test again, our streets would be much safer.

Pedestrians and bikers could walk or bike the streets of California without the lingering fear of being run off the road by a driver who doesn’t know what they are doing.

The amount of fatal car accidents would be dramatically reduced, and thousands of innocent lives could be saved.

After all, do you really want people who are unsafe drivers on the road with you? Do you want to put your life in the hands of these people? And do you want to

be responsible for causing a fatal accident because you yourself are an unfit driver?

This test needs to be harder. In the past, when many of our parents were receiving their licenses, the test was much more difficult. Basic driving skills such as parallel parking and freeway driving were once a requirement of the test. Due to the lack of

testing in these areas, many drivers are unprepared when they first begin to perform these tasks.

The vast majority of fatal car accidents happen on the freeway. It is surprising, then, that one thing that drivers are not tested on is freeway driving. It is worrisome that put so much trust into people who

make driving a hazardous task. Innocent people are injured or killed because of these incompetent and untrained drivers.

Last year, 37,248 people died in car accidents in the U.S. alone. If the DMV was willing to be a little more selective about who they let drive, this number could be drastically reduced.

Racial diversity versus financial need

By Kristin Gunther and Marcus Kahn Tiger Staff It’s your first SAT. Your heart races and soars as you bubble in your name and prepare to prove yourself. But what’s this? I don’t see a bubble for Lithuanian descent in the ethnicity box! Not only that, where’s the box for General European Ancestry?

This is one of many examples of this century’s attitude towards race, which seeks to overcorrect and misdiagnose the ills of the past. But what justifies this lack of specificity? On average, Latinos and African-Americans earn over $10,000 less annually than Asians and Caucasians. So they should get preferential treatment, right? Wrong. Averages are misleading. The truth is, poverty exists in all walks of life, and judging by race is an imperfect solution.

A poor Caucasian has a much harder time getting into college than a rich Latino, because one ethnic background receives more attention than the other, according to the idea of affirmative action.

The current system operates on this premise: “There is a correlation between race and poverty, so let’s help out those in typically poorer races.” A foolproof solution would be to simply help out people that they know are poor.

Where are we going with this? There

needs to be affirmative action based upon financial need, not racial assumptions.

If you are one-eighth Cherokee, are you that much more attuned to the sufferings of your people than if you were onesixteenth? By recognizing trivial amounts of lineage, the fight for campus diversity has become absurd. Race does not affect your standard of living or academic performance; financial standing does.

An absurd, almost humorous aspect of this problem can be found in the pride in diversity that colleges maintain. Is racial diversity the most important factor in a col-

lege’s quality? Or rather, is it the opinions and experiences that define the student body?

Assuming that race is indicative of thought and psyche is inherently subtle racism.

A letter of college admittance is already the Golden Snitch in the game of Academic Quidditch, so why metaphorically bewitch the bludgers to target those like poor majorities? All the Harry Potter references aside, the current system is one based upon good intentions, but bad implementations.

When a system has failed to accommodate comprehensively, there is an imperative to repair it, regardless of the taboos.

Sam Shin

10 Tiger - Friday, October 22, 2010 Freshmen

D t s Be

Color Day

Color Day

Page by Coleman Rainey Photos by Sam Gurley, Edmond Mandin-Lee, Tai Carter, Jennifer Kim & Katie Whitworth

Sophomore

d e s res

Junior

Senior

Chartreuse and periwinkle : two colors dramatically underrepresented on Color Day this year.

Despite the light rain, the indomitable spirit of the Tiger remained vibrant, and the gym filled with the annual swarm of orange and black. It was the usual: crazy costumes, hoarse voices, and a lot of skin.

Friday, October 22, 2010 - Tiger

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Feature Tiger - Friday, October 22, 2010

Feature

Culture Music Art Books Movies Fashion People

Review: The Social Network

By Kelsey Hess Staff Writer

4.5/5 Likes

At age 18, he turned down Google and AOL when they tried to recruit him for his Pandora-like software. At age 20, he dropped out of Harvard University. At age 23, he became the world’s youngest billionaire. The newest hit, “The Social Network” exposes the surprisingly rocky road that 26-yearold creator of Facebook Mark Zuckerberg took to gaining his current 500+ million active users.

It all began on a Tuesday night in Zuckerberg’s dorm room at Harvard University. His girlfriend had just broken up with him due to his cynical and reprimanding personality, and he decided to get a little revenge. While partially drunk and partially heartbroken, Mark began to blog unfavorably about the girl, and created a program that same night called FaceMash, which allowed users to compare headshots of sorority girls at Harvard according to their hotness. This website collected so many hits that it crashed Harvard’s servers mere hours after it was launched.

This remarkable invention caught the eyes of two pretentious undergrads, Cameron and Tyler Winklevoss, who presented Zuckerberg with the idea and prospect to help design an innovative concept that they had. The Winklevoss brothers wanted to create an exclusive website for Harvard students, where they could profile friends and correspond.

However, Mark thought bigger. He took the idea and ran with it, building a multi-billion dollar company from the ground up. Currently, 70% of Facebook users are not in the United States, which explains the 70 language translation options that it gives users. From here on, the story is controversial. Whether Zuckerberg “stole” the idea of Facebook and expanded it faster than the Winklevosses could, or was inspired by their original concept, that’s up to each individual to decide. The story is controversial, but the facts are straight.

Zuckerberg’s ex-best friend, Eduardo Saverin, was a co-creator of Facebook back in its early Harvard days. The movie is executed by jumping in and out of Zuckerberg’s lawsuit settlement meetings (which include Saverin suing Zuckerberg), to flashbacks to the creating of Facebook. An audience would have been more likely to be sympathetic towards Zuckerberg’s role had he been respectful and polite during the lawsuits, but he is any thing but, and viewers are led to assume that this is how the real Mark Zuckerberg acted under these circumstances.

The Social Network is indubitably a constant thinking film. In order to follow the plot, the audience member must be attentive throughout the movie, but it’s definetely worth it. It came as no suprise that writer Aaron Sorkin’s newest screenplay for “The Social Network” was dialogue based, yet utterly intriguing. Jesse Eisenberg plays the lead role of Zuckerberg.

Excluding “Adventureland” and “Zombieland,” this is Eisen-

altfg.com

Jesse Eisenberg plays Facebook co-founder Mark Zuckerberg, an arrogant coding genius who creates the website to meet girls. The real Zuckerberg criticized the movie for this portrayal of him, stating that “[Hollywood] just can’t wrap their head around the idea someone might build something because they like building things.” berg’s break out role in a great motion picture. He portrayed Zuckerberg as an annoying, arrogant, naive, but ingenious guy. “The Social Network,” is a first of its kind to inform the public on one of our favorite URLs, which the majority of Facebook users knew nothing about. After seeing this movie, every status, every relationship change on our homepage will make you think back to Mark Zuckerberg’s dorm room. Ex-

pect to leave the theater stirred and perplexed.

It’s incredible how fast social networking can expand, and how computer geniuses like Mark Zuckerberg are converting out lives more and more into computer code. One status at a time, we are becoming more attached. Every person with a facebook account should see this movie – It’s good to learn about your addiction.

Truths and treasons of The Social Network Oh Zuckerberg. You think a spot on Oprah will repair you sordid reputation? I don’t think so. But where, exactly, did Aaron Sorkin stray from the truth? After thorough research on tech blogs and business journals, we have found some most important truths and treasons of The Social Network.

1. Eduardo Saverin, though portrayed as an innocent victim in the film, spent most of his time over the summer of 2004 not working but partying, while Zuckerberg and his group of Harvard programmers were going bankrupt. While he was supposed to be selling advertisement space, he was actually placing ads for his own startup on Facebook without telling the rest of the young execs.

2. Saverin was not Zuckerberg’s best friend. There are e-mails from Facebook’s start-up days, in which Zuckerberg explains he choose Saverin as his

partner because he had money to invest, and seemed to have a head for businessnot because of their algorithmic collaboration.

3. In the most intellectually overwhelming (and awesome) part of the movie, Zuckerberg blogs about his breakup with a girl from BU, creates a domain “Facemash” which compares the hotness of Harvard undergrads, and crashes the Harvard server at two in the morning.

Oh, and he was drunk while doing it.

That story is true. We have the blog to prove it.

4. Zuckerberg was not inspired to cre-

ate Facebook by that breakup. The movie spins that event as the catalyst for Facebook’s entire creation. Zuckerberg, however, has been with the same girlfriend since before Facebook. So all Jesse Eisenberg’s digital-soul-searching is based in fiction, and as Zuckerberg has said himself, Sorkin and director David Fincher could not understand, “that someone might build something because they like building things.”

5. Every piece of clothing that Eisenberg wore was, “an exact piece of clothing that I own,” according to Zuckerberg himself. /Cole Rainey

Mixin’ and Munchin’ at the Mission junction

By Max White Staff Writer With Mix n’ Munch’s greatly anticipated (and somewhat delayed) opening, the curious combination of grilled cheese and cereal has finally made it to South Pasadena. Founded by four former Tigers with a unique idea for a trendy new restaurant, Mix n’ Munch brings two of breakfast’s biggest comfort foods together. Customers can choose from an almost endless variety of cereal combinations, customize their own grilled cheese sandwich, or both. But the arrival of this quirky café to Mission Street begs an important and necessary question: is Mix n’ Munch truly deserving of the hype that has built up around it, or is it simply a short-lived concept that offers nothing a would-be customer can’t duplicate at home? The answer, fortunately, is the former.

Mix n’ Munch offers over 25 kinds of

cereal that can be combined in a Mini, Regular, or Jumbo Bowl. Mix-ins, ranging from vanilla wafers to strawberries to caramel sauce, are just as numerous. Less creative customers can opt for one of Mix n’ Munch’s specials, like “The Cookie Bowl,” over one of their own design.

But the sandwiches, which transcend the humble stereotype of the simple grilled cheese, are the real draw. With six types of bread to choose from, the choice of more cheeses than some people know exist, and the ability to add meat, eggs, vegetables, and spreads, customers are treated to a grilled cheese sandwich loaded with “mix-ins” that cater exactly to their tastes. These buttery and filling culinary creations are just as “crispy,” “melty,” and “mouth-watering,” as the Mix n’ Munch Facebook page promises. Anyone with a sweet tooth can follow up his or her meal with a “grilled dessert sandwich,” which

can be customized in a manner similar to its cheesy cousin, but with toppings like peanut butter, Nutella, and marshmallow fluff.

Healthier options, like oatmeal mixes, yogurt parfaits, and soup are also available.

The prices are generally reasonable considering the nature of the café, as most cereal bowls and grilled cheese sandwiches cost less than $5.

Offering “late start discounts” for SPHS students and giving 10% off on Color Day, Mix n’ Munch is intent on finding a niche as a fun place for teenagers to hang out. But the restaurant has piqued the interest of South Pasadena residents of all age groups, with elderly couples, young families, and even SPHS faculty members making their way to the café last weekend. It seems that Mix n’ Munch and South Pas are as compatible as the cereal and grilled cheese duo that brought them together.

Tai Carter

Mix n’ Munch’s array of toppings provide a delicious addition to grilled cheese or cereal.

Feature

Friday, October 22, 2010 - Tiger

13

Personality Profile

NaNoWriMo challenges young authors

eighth grade. Here, he was easily noticed because of his interesting style and outgoing personality.

The notorious display of vibrant colors (think bright red skinny-jeans) in his wardrobe was inspired by a mix of “Kanye West, Pharell, [and] basically the whole Hip-Hop Movement.”

Most of Yihai’s clothes come from Hot Topic, and some choice Forever 21 outlets. His style is so well-recognized that Han’s former teacher Ryan Meier cited Tai Carter “Yihai’s colorful pants” as one Colorful style: Beneath junior Yihai Han’s buff, tan of the things he would miss most Chinese exterior lies a kind soul and a soft heart. at SPHS in a 2009 interview.

When he is not updating his wardrobe or playing football, Yihai spends

By Chloe Lloyd his time “clubbing with friends, dancing, grindStaff Writers ing, and sleeping.” Another interest he pursues Traditionally, when a person is being in- is “money and girls, especially the cute ones.”

However, beneath Yihai’s buff, tan, Chiterviewed, he conveys a sense of who he is, his goals in life, and his interests. Yihai is not this nese exterior lies a kind soul and a soft heart, kind of person. First appearing to be a man of which are greatly exposed when he talks about mystery with a mischevious twinkle in his eye, his hamster, Mr. West, named after musician I now confess to feeling just as uncertain about Kanye West. Mr. West, who Yihai and senior Yihai, after spending a good deal of time inter- Tony Veiller bought last year, has taught Yihai responsibility and how to take care of someone viewing him, as I did before we originally.

You may have seen him on the football other then himself. Unfortunately the beloved team as starting running back for the varsity hamster has fallen ill and has a “lump on his squad, or just around school wearing a flash of butt, but is single and looking for some lovin’ crazy colors and multiple piercings. Either way, before he dies.” Yihai’s passion for both football and Mr. West are evident, a combination that Yihai is one junior that challenges the ordinary.

Born in Tokyo, Japan (although he is Chi- makes him so unique.

So, although you now know a few key nese), Yihai came to the United States with his mother when he was two years old. He spent facts about Yihai, he is best known through several years living in Colton, San Bernadino, conversation. Or perhaps one should just ask before moving to South Pasadena at the end of Mr. West.

Fifty thousand words in thirty days.

That is the goal of National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo). Every November, thousands of participants around the world partake in “thirty days and nights of literary abandon.” Pumping out 1667 words a day, participants create an entire novel from scratch. Participants create a free account on nanowrimo.org to update word count and access forums, writing buddies, and “winner goodies.”

Since 1999, with only 21 participants and six winners from the San Francisco Bay Area, NaNoWriMo has grown exponentially and spread worldwide. Last year, the website had more than 165,000 participants, and over 18% reached their goal.

Yihai Han

! est e n i l rmit t n o l our pe l a d pass y e s r so you e v i dr s d ons

By Amber Laird Staff Writer

S2 H A C ss ve e est t e e o l r k e d p e c Ta , flexibl MV-ap it practi co * t n n D m u s. o • Fu ifornia ne per c s s e i l i c l a r d t pro • C free on e t n n 0 e e •5 d m n y a a p m e o c n . i l d n sE he o r e iv t r g D n t i dur Visi

Want a fast, easy way to fundraise for your class?

Earn a 25% commission and save your friends 15% off drivers ed.

Visit www.DriversEd.com/Associate-Programs. *Discount for online drivers ed class only.

2.1_BW_10x8_D19 © 2010 DriversEd.com

A resource for all NaNo winners, createspace.com/nanowrimo offers a free copy of the completed novel in paperback, as well as an opportunity to sell the book through Amazon. com.

Over the years, 67 NaNo novels have been published, including the New York Times #1 Bestseller Water for Elephants, by Sara Gruen.

Junior Yee-Lum Mak, two-time participant and winner, is an expert in the art of noveling. At first, she was unsure about whether she was capable of writing a novel in just a month.

Now, Yee-Lum says that “November is my favorite moth now” because of it. “I’m going to do it every single year until I die,” she adds.

If you love creative writing, then NaNoWriMo is for you. As Yee-Lum puts it, “Even if you only get half way through, that’s 25,000 more words than anyone else has written.”

14 Tiger - Friday, October 22, 2010

Feature

Freakonomics

By Clair Fuller Staff Writer Freakonomics, based on the best-selling book of the same name, presents a succinct, if surface level, presentation of the same compelling connections examined in the book by economoist Steven Levitt, and journalist Stephen Dubner.

“If you can figure out what people’s incentives are, you have a good chance of guessing how they’re gonna behave,” says Levitt, and this theme, prevalent in economics, is also recurring throughout the movie. The film is divided into four parts, each dealing with a different fascinating correlation, and each with a different writer/director team.

The movie tackles the same premise the book does, exploring “the hidden side of everything” and “asking a

By Kelsey Hess Staff Writer I don’t joke around. Not about the Pope’s twitter feed, and not about saltine crackers. So as soon as I was challenged to Break the Impossible, three of my colleagues and I were up for the task. The challenge? Eat 6 saltine crackers in 60 seconds.

As our first round began, we quickly discovered how difficult it was. As the Dream Team (Marcus Kahn, Sam Gurley, Jackson Atwater and I) exchanged solemn

looks, we realized the absurd height of our egos with an unopened box of crackers.

Each round grew progressively harder, and with every cracker came a new level of torture. But our confidence never faltered, despite progressive worsening. Ironically enough, as we shoved each cracker into our mouths, it became more and more impossible to break.

Needless to say, we failed the original challenge miserably, but with a little modification we were prepped to try again. The new challenge? 2 crackers, 8 minutes, no

different type of question entirely.” How are stereotypical “white names.” different from stereotypical “black names,” and what are the implications?

How rampant is cheating in Japanese sumo wrestling, a sport that places a huge importance on honor? Did legalizing abortion serve to dramatically lower the crime rate in the US? Can you pay a ninth grader to get good grades?

While the differing perspectives are entertaining and unique, the final product is disjointed, and although clips of discussions with Levitt and Dubner attempt to tie everything together, the overall cohesion suffers. Each segment would be entertaining as a stand alone, but when put together the contrasts are jarring — when the jokes and animation of the first segment transitions to the dark and dramatic

water, and a whole lot of convulsing.

Sam and Marcus defeated the challenge valiantly, while Jackson and I were left with crumbs still falling from our cracker packed mouths.

A couple of strategies were employed throughout the various trials. One was the brute force tactic of putting in 3 crackers at a time. Another more subversive one involved accumulating saliva under the radar.

But despite all the tactical application we all fell short, and this impossibility remains just so: impossible.

3/5

feel of the second, the juxtaposition is befuddling.

Fans of the book will appreciate the facelift given to the sections featured in the film, with updated references to Obama and the financial crisis, but will miss the deeper analysis offered in their now five-year-old text version.

Those who have yet to enjoy the read will hopefully view the film as not as a summary, but a jumping off point, to Levitt and Dubner’s original treatise.

The movie excels as a preview, not a substitute, for the book.

In the end, Freakonomics provides an entertaining enough hour and a half, and with more intelligence than your typical blockbuster — which is probably why you’ll only watch it in independent theatres, it’s best supplemented by reading the book that started it all.

Sam Gurley

Kelsey Hess and Jackson Atwater struggle in the midst of adversity.

RODEO BURGER

BURGER KING An obscure burger assembled with onion rings and bbq sauce in it.

PB&J, Push-pop, Skittles, Sour Patch Kids

JAMBA JUICE Ever feel like you’re falling into the same routine every time you order at Mickey D’s or Taco Bell? This month’s top ten has exactly what you’ve been looking for. Tiger gives you the insider’s scoop on some of your favorite fast-food chains’ secret menu items, from new takes on burgers to classified candyflavored smoothies. With this confidential cuisine knowledge, we’ve exposed a whole new world of possibilities. You’ll be able to get the most delicious and undercover order, without having to do any of the sleuthing.

For those of you who need your weekly Jamba fix, try ordering these stealthy and eccentric flavors.

QUESORITO

CHIPOTLE

An atypical and highly covert quesadilla with any of the fillings used in a burrito, rolled together and baked in the tortilla warmer.

ENCHIRITO

TACO BELL

This is a off-menu enchilada of beef, beans, cheese, diced onions, and red sauce.

BISCUITS & GRAVY

McDONALD’S

Biscuits and Gravy- Go ahead and ask the guy behind the counter for this retired menu item that many Mickey D’s still carry.

DOUBLE STUFFED CRUST

LITTLE CAESAR’S When ordering any pizza, ask for this upgrade.

FLYING DUTCHMAN

IN-N-OUT PIZZA SUB

SUBWAY

This classified sandwich is a favorite among Subway insiders, comprised of a cheese, tomato sauce, and pepperoni combo.

Red Tux Mocha

STARBUCKS Red Tux Mocha (also called Bleeding Penguin) – a super secret and scrumptious drink made with white chocolate and regular chocolate mocha and raspberry flavoring

The not-so-secret animal fries and 4x4 are things of the past: live on the wild side and order yourself two meat patties and two slices of cheese, and absolutely nothing else. Not even a bun.

BARNYARD

WENDY’S A highly classified spicy chicken sandwich with ham, bacon and beef, all separated by cheese.

Text by Jessica Moog Photos from badmouth.net, theimpulsivebuy.com, tacobell.com, starbucks.com, chumpyly.blogspot.com

Feature

Friday, October 22, 2010 - Tiger

15

Personality Profile: Aria Dean

Sam & Luka’s Awesome Adventures in the Greater L.A. Area

Sam Gurley Sam Gurley

booths, and musical performers. As a plus, most of the exhibits are free of charge—at least for part of the night.

Although Sam and I felt slightly out of place among the infinitely-morehip crowd, we had a good time perusing though the exhibits. We even made some friends along the way, including some bongo players and a young entrepreneur named Reginald, who sold “Jamagels”: Jamaican-flavored bagels.

Not bagels that taste like Jamaicans of course. Just bagels with Jamaicaninspired flavors.

The best part about the Art Walk is that, as corny as it seems, it literally and completely has something to offer for everyone. It’s hard to imagine why anyone would not have a good time here—unless, of course, you have something against Jamagels.

By Luka Douridas Associate Opinion Editor Everybody knows that L.A. is a thriving goldmine of art and culture.

So naturally, it’s no wonder that Downtown has such a wide variety of trendy museums and galleries, frequented by equally trendy local designers and artists. What many people do not know, however, is that for one day out of each month, everyone in the L.A. artistic community can come together for a day of food, fun, and of course, art.

Held on the second Thursday of each month, Art Walk is an event where the museums and galleries of Downtown L.A. stay open late, sharing foot traffic with food stands, artists’

Aria Dean poses in front of a pair of her photographs at the Amory Center for the Arts in Pasadena. Photography is just one of many of this talented senior’s modes of expression.

By Amber Laird Staff Writer Casually sipping a Jamba Juice and sporting some feather earrings from Forever 21, senior Aria Dean gives off an easy-going, live-life vibe. It comes as no surprise that she is not only a painter, drawer, writer, and concert-goer, but she also works at American Apparel.

The talented girl deems art her passion, but she wouldn’t have said that a few years ago. She’s been drawing since she was little and painting since freshman year, but art hasn’t played a major role in her life until very recently.

This past summer, she attended California State Summer School for the Arts and her passion was reawakened. “I realized that I want it to be part of my life,” she says. This isn’t to say she wasn’t

Action-film greats team up in R.E.D.

By Angela Jang Business Manager

3.5/5

For two hours, the audience could not stop laughing until the credits began to roll. RED (an acronym for “Retired, Extremely Dangerous), directed by Robert Schwentke and written by Erich Hoeber, is an action-comedy film loosely based on a DC Comics series of the same name.

The plot follows the lives of retired CIA agents. After retirement, Frank Moses (Bruce Willis) spends most of his time calling his crush, Sarah Ross (Mary-Louise Parker), bored with his mundane life.

However, his humdrum routine is blown off course one night, when a group of assassins capture Frank’s house and try to kill him.

Realizing that Sarah might be in danger, Frank sets off to Kansas City to protect

OVERheard

This PG-13 movie will not win an her and takes her to visit his 80-year-old reOscar. It is, rather, a light movie for famitired CIA friend, Joe (Morgan Freeman).

Together, they suspect the CIA lies to watch during Sunday evenings. The plot is easy to of sending the follow and the raid of assassins. veteran cast Frank then gathis still able to ers back his retired amaze the audiCIA group, which ence. With an includes Marvin average rating (John Malkovich), of 6.5/10 on and Victoria (Helen Rotten TomaMirren), a seemingtoes, this movie ly cold, icy woman has its fair share who is in love with collider.com a man she shot three Malkovich and Freeman star as retired of critics; however, its purpose times. The journey CIA agents in the new film R.E.D. is not to earn begins as this group of retired and extremely dangerous agents an award but to give families a short twothreatens the CIA for sending these assas- hour period of both pleasure and entertainment. sins.

involved before. She once entered a charcoal drawing of Ruby Bridges (an African American girl who, at the age of six, was admitted to an all-white school after passing a difficult exam) into an NAACP art contest. She made it all the way to nationals and went to Kansas City.

As if being a talented artist wasn’t enough, she’s a writer too. She’s written short stories and started numerous screenplays.

Aria wants her college life to be an experience. She wants to gain knowledge on many subjects so that she can integrate her experiences into her writing and art. She says, “My dream school is Yale, but, you know, it’s Yale.”

She already has a steady source of income: her job as a salesperson at American Apparel. She’s already made about $1500 so far, but says, “It gets away from me somehow.” Either way, her job is a great way to earn money while expressing her fashion sense.

This savvy senior is known for her style.

She mixes vintage, “thrift store” styles with more traditional high school apparel. She says, “I get a lot of comments about being a hipster, and I don’t know how to take that…I just do what I want to do and like what I want to like.”

Her taste in music doesn’t help. “If someone looked at the bands that I like, they’d say, ‘Oh, what a hipster!’” She goes to the concerts of bands like Beach House and Vampire Weekend, “what most people would consider generic hipster bands.”

Despite coincidentally seeming to fit into the hipster stereotype, Aria has some guilty pleasures. She says that she “got into Lost over the summer [and] watched the first five seasons in a span of two months. That’s way too much TV for one person.” But Lost isn’t the end of it.

There’s Glee too (of course).

Aria, summing herself up, says, “I come off as being quiet and serious but I’m not at all.

I’m a total geek and I’m just really silly.”

Overheard anything interesting or funny recently? Send us the quote(s) at feature@tigernewspaper.com!

.

illustrations by Sam Shin

16 Tiger - Friday, October 22, 2010

Tiger Survey

TIGER SURVEY

Page by Luka Douridas, Cole Rainey, and Sam Gurley

The students of South Pasadena High School have always known to be very opinionated. But what opinions, precisely, do the students hold? Tired of asking this question, we decided to find out for ourselves. Now, all of your consensus questions will be answered, as we present to you the one and only...Tiger Survey! 200 students responded to these questions on surveymonkey.com.

Who took our poll?

Vanilla,Chocolate, or Strawberry?

Seniors............42% Juniors.............32% Sophomores...17% Freshmen.........9%

Ninjas or Pirates?

The age-old question...

(Big surprise)

Harry Potter or Twilight?

“It would rotate between different members of the Wu-Tang Clan.”

If you could change our mascot to anything, what would you change it to?

“It would be a panda that sneezed.”

“The Apple logo.”

“Lil Wayne.”

Which political party do you support?

If you could give the drug dog any name, what would you name it?

“William the Strong“Buster” Nosed”

Who is your favorite male teacher?

“CHESTER.”

Who is your favorite female teacher?

“Officer Sniffy”

Mr. Regan

Ms. Budde

No:

“Pavlov the Salivating Drug Dog”

“SHADYNASTY” “Dopey” (pronounced “Do you sha-dynasty) want some?”

Do you read Tiger?

Yes:

“Mary Jane”

“Shakakanoreodomus”

91% 9%

Who was your favorite teacher at SPMS?

#1 Mr. Adanto #2 Mr. Luce #3 Mr. Buhler

27%

28%

35%

3%

6%

Hey Arnold!

Recess

Rugrats

Doug

Ren and Stimpy

What is your favorite 90’s cartoon?

17

Friday, October 22, 2010 - Tiger

Sports

Why not Boise State?

Why is it so difficult for the Broncos to get support for a national championship?

By Carlton Lew Sports Editor Seven weeks into the college football season and chaos has finally struck. With powerhouses Alabama and Ohio State falling in consecutive weeks, the once seemingly predictable rankings have opened the door for underdog teams to take the reigns. You would think it would be easy for the Boise State Broncos— ranked third in the latest Bowl Chanpionship Series standings—to ascend to the top of the college football world. Right? Wrong.

Although a few of the big threats to the Broncos have been defeated, they still have a huge mountain to climb. Unlike other teams, being third doesn’t mean a whole lot for Boise.

They come from a “non-automatic qualifying conference” which means they do not have a guaranteed BCS bowl appearance. It is hard enough for a school from a non-AQ conference to be selected for a BCS bowl; imagine how much harder it would be to secure a spot in the national championship. But the Broncos are trying to run the table and accomplish something never done in the 12 year history of the BCS. The teams who play in the national championship are the top two in the final BCS standings and the Broncos are standing at the doorstop at number three. Unfortunately, the Broncos are not in control of their own destiny and have to depend on other teams to lose in order to move up in the polls.

This past week, Oklahoma jumped past Boise State in the rankings even though they only beat Iowa State. Iowa State. As far as I know, beating Iowa State is not a worthy accomplishment. There are critics who say Boise’s unimpressive schedule makes them unworthy at a shot for the national title. But could it be that bigger schools are afraid of scheduling them? In recent years, the Broncos have defeated major schools from the AQ conferences including over Oregon and Oklahoma, both of whom are currently ahead of Boise in the polls. This season, Broncos defeated Virginia Tech and manhandled Oregon State ranked 10th and 24th, respectively—both of which are from the power conferences.

Yes, Boise State’s schedule may not be as strong as the schools from the AQ conferences, but they have proven they can certainly play with the big dogs. With big games coming up for Oklahoma and Oregon, do not be surprised when the boys from Idaho are playing for all the marbles on January 10. After all, this is college football and as we know, anything can happen on Saturdays.

Jennifer Kim

Senior superstar: Sara Charney hits her signature forehand and serve against Temple City last week.

Tennis serves it up in league play

By Alex Tranquada Staff Writer The girls tennis team has set its bar high this year, making it their goal to reach CIF Finals despite the graduation of several key players. However, despite a strong pre-season start, the Tigers have been brought down by widespread injury, and have had to fight for every hard-won victory.

The Tigers’ league season opened on September 30th against Monrovia, after a 4-14 loss to Arroyo High School on the 23rd and a 5-13 defeat by Burroughs on the 29th. The Wildcats were completely unprepared for the South Pasadena onslaught, with senior Sara Charney easily defeating Monrovia’s number one singles player to contribute to the 16-2 SPHS victory.

Three weeks and three games after their opener, the Tigers’ league record

stands at 1-3. Blair was unable to field a league play, which may take longer than team this season, leaving only San Ma- expected; SPHS’ last two league matches rino, La Cañada, Monrovia and Temple against Monrovia and La Cañada have City between SPHS and the league cham- been postponed due to inclement weathpionship. San Marino, the Tigers’ perpet- er. ual rival, is currently ranked fifth in CIF Do the Tigers still have a chance to Southern Section Division II, and is ex- achieve their goals, despite their admittedpected to repeat as league champion after ly slow start in league play? “I definitely winning the state title last year. think we do,” said senior Elaine Horng.

The Tigers emerged on the wrong “We’ve had a lot of injuries and illnesses, side of their showdown with the Titans and the weather recently hasn’t been great on October 12th, as they were soundly de- for playing tennis. Now that everyone’s feated by a score of 2-16; Charney was the healthy, once the weather clears up we only singles player to pick up a victory for should improve a lot and have a chance at the Tigers in that match. La Cañada and making it to CIF.” Temple City have also established themThe Tigers’ next scheduled game selves as strong contenders in the past few takes place on the 28th at San Marino. weeks, handing South Pas losses by scores of 8-10 and 7-11, respec10/14 10/11 10/12 tively. The Tigers, Spartans, and SPHS SPHS SPHS Rams will have to battle amongst v. TC v. Arcadia v. San Marino themselves for the final two CIF 8-10 L 4-14 L 1-17 L slots during the second round of

Why does football coverage always win?

Despite being some of America’s most beloved professional sports, baseball, basketball, and hockey always come second to football.

By Brendan Perry Staff Writer Roy Halladay pitched the second post-season no-hitter in the history of Major League Baseball in his first career postseason start, and what was the lead story on Sportscenter? Randy Moss, an aging receiver, is traded back to the Vikings. This is just one example of how the sports media have made football seem superior to other sports.

Football dominates sports media, yet each team has only one game a week.

Sports analysts spend hours of prime time television dissecting past games and predicting what will happen in future games, while sports like baseball and hockey get minimal coverage. This makes absolutely zero sense

to me. Baseball is currently in the midst of an exciting post-season and hockey season just began. It is week six in the National Football League and the stories being reported upon are not major. So why is it that the NFL is the focus of sports media?

I, for one, am tired of hearing about Brett Favre and how old he is, or how Michael Vick has had a troubled past. I don’t want to know the opinion of every single football analyst on who will win the game on Monday night. Even when there is no football being played, the sport remains in the spotlight. Sports news should stop concentrating on the secondary stories of the NFL and spend more time covering the primary stories in the other sports.

Some say that football deserves all of this coverage because it has more fans. By that logic, NASCAR, with the biggest fan base should be the biggest covered sport. I believe football has become more popular because of the amount of coverage it receives. If all sports were given equal coverage in the media, there would be a more balanced fan base for each sport. When ESPN covered the World Cup, soccer’s fan base increased dramatically. Even Americans, who are notorious for neglecting soccer, embraced it.

Football is great, but so are baseball, hockey, and basketball. It is unfair for football to dominate the attention of the sporting world.

Postseason baseball post-mortem

By Christian Miyamae Assoc. Sports Editor

October 22 and the post-season has been…magnificent. So far we’ve seen pitching, pitching, and more pitching. Roy Halladay threw just the second no-hitter in post-season history. Aadditionally, all of the games in the Giants- Braves Division Series were within one run. And as we approach the last series of October, it is obvious that this is the year of the pitcher is at its best.

But who really has the staff to take them all the way? With consistency, efficiency and the ability to get clutch outs, the Giants are the team to beat. Hands down.

Tim “The Freak” Lincecum hopes to prove that they are not the underdogs. Along with

Matt Cain and Jonathan Sanchez, their staff is loaded with nasty stuff.

So what happens if the frontline of their pitching falters? The bullpen will always take care of business. That’s right“The Beards.” The second unit has electric stuff lead by closer Brian Wilson, who has been putting up zero after zero in the ninth.

People argue that the offense of the American League can outmatch NL pitching. But then again, the experts said that the Phillies would pound San Francisco.

Yet, where has Phillidelphia’s offense been?

Great pitching beats good hitting. That is the fact of the matter.

What about the offensive side of the Giants? They also proved the experts wrong

with the power surges of Cody Ross and rookie catcher Buster Posey. But just saying their offense is good isn’t enough. You have to check the stats. In game one, Cody Ross took Roy Halladay deep twice and sent the potential Cy Young winner to the showers.

Then in game four, Buster Posey showed up everyone going 4 for 5, which gave the Giants a 3- 1 lead in the series.

But along with the tools, the Giants also have the determination. After a disappointing loss to the Angels in the 2002 World Series and a 2003 division series loss to the Marlins, the Giants are hungry for redemption after suffering through sixplayoff less seasons. They’re back now and are more than ready to avenge that World Series defeat.

espn.com

Giants ace pitcher Tim Lincecum lived up to the hype tossing a two-hitter in his first ever playoff appearance.

18 Tiger - Friday, October 22, 2010

Sports

Cross country

XC hits the midway point of season in full stride

Jennifer Kim

Junior Taci Chin Robinson pulls away from her opponents at a league meet on October 14. The girls dominated the league meet.

By Wyatt Bukowski Staff Writer Going into last Thursday’s meet, the Tigers knew they would have to perform perfectly if they were going to finally beat the La Cañada Spartans.

And that’s exactly what recently recovered senior Sam Pons and the rest of the team did. Pons won the race finishing with a time of 16:46, and sophomore Paul Messana followed with a time of 16:50 and a fourth place finish, Junior Alex Tranquada was right behind him, finishing in 5th with a once again impressive time of 17:03.

Sophomore Anika Renken kept up her winning ways as she once again finished in first with a speedy time of 19:28, while freshman Helena Van Loan impressed with a third place finish and a solid time of 19:43. “This is a huge win for us; to see all of our work finally pay off is really cool,” said Messana.

The Tigers took second in the first league meet, falling short to the Spartans, a team they haven’t beaten in seven years mainly because South Pas was without injured star runner Pons. He said, “It feels good” when asked how it felt to get back on the track.

As far as Pons’ time goes, he said that he stayed back with his teammates to help them rally to win. “It really helps when you have a teammate running alongside you,” said junior Max White.

South Pas has league finals in November, a meet which will decide who takes first place in Rio Hondo. Although the Tigers pulled off an impressive win on Thursday, the Spartans are likely to return wanting revenge. The team will have to stay consistent and focused if they are going to dethrone La Cañada and win league.

9/23 SPHS v. League B: 2nd place G: 1st place

10/14 SPHS v. League B: 1st place G: 1st place

Golf finishes season as league champ

By Harry Yadav Staff Writer On Monday and Tuesday, the South Pasadena Girls Golf Team competed in individual league finals and four players qualified for CIF Individuals. Junior Melody Sue came in first and earned the top individual honor of MVP for the Mont View League. Juniors Samantha Ramos, Victoria Carlos, and Katie Whitworth came in second, third, and fourth respectively. The Tigers also benefited from a strong performance from senior Jackie Sedano, who missed qualifying by one spot. Overall, the Tigers’ play in league finals was symbolic of their play during league.

The Tigers concluded a dominant season by earning first place after finishing 6-0 in league play. The Tigers terrorized their competition, crushing their opponents by an average of approximately 59 strokes per match. This dramatic improvement from last year’s record of 4-2 is a testament to the Tigers work ethic. After the bottom of the line-up struggled to consistently score

well earlier in the season, Tigers coach Richard Goto worried that depth would be the Tigers Achilles’ heel. However, in league the Tigers’ biggest weakness had instead become their biggest strength, thanks in part to experience.

The Tigers were at their best against San Dimas High School in a league match played at Via Verde Country Club. In the Tigers 206-247 victory, Sue led the squad with a 36, followed

by Carlos’ 41, Whitworth’s 42, Ramos’ 43, and junior Laurel Kitada’s 44. “I’m really impressed by our consistency and improvement more than anything,” said Goto.

Next, the Tigers embarrassed Azusa High School at Almansor Golf Course, winning by a count of 221-311.

Again, the Tigers turned in strong scores from top to bottom. Sue shot a 40, Whitworth a 42, Ramos a 45, Kitada a 46, and Carlos a 48.

The league championship was the first in the programs short history.

League Ranking: 1st

Friday, October 22, 2010 - Tiger

Sports

19

Role model on the field but not off

By Harry Yadav Staff Writer

Katie Whitworth

Senior quarterback Conor Bednarski scans the field for open receivers against the La Cañada defense.

Football falls to .500 South Pasadena opens up league play with a nail-biting loss to La Cañada

By Brendan Perry Staff Writer South Pasadena football suffered a heartbreaking loss in their league-opener, falling to La Cañada 21-28. The Tigers showed great grit in the second half, battling the Spartans until the very end.

Trailing 14-28 late in the 4th quarter, the Tigers received the ball at the 29 yard-line. They began to drive down the field, attacking the defense with long pass plays to top receiver Matthew Nelson, capping the drive with a 1-yard rushing touchdown from senior running back, Patrick Martin.

Momentum stayed with the Tigers as the defense took the field.

With time on the clock diminishing, the defense made a quick stop and forced La Cañada to punt with only 2 minutes and 45 seconds remaining in the game.

The Spartans’ punt was weak, placing the Tigers at La Cañada’s 40

yard-line and giving the offense one final chance to drive the ball downfield and score the game-changing touchdown. A big run by Martin, who rushed for 144 yards on the night, brought the Tigers all the way down to the 2-yard line. South Pasadena looked like they were going to punch in a touchdown with very little time for the Spartans to respond. But after a 5-yard penalty for a false start, a short run, and an incomplete pass the game would be decided on one final play.

On 4th down and 6, senior quarterback, Conor Bednarski, dropped back, looking to pass, and fired at junior running back, Yihai Han, in the corner of the end zone. Bednarski’s pass fell incomplete, resulting in a narrow La Cañada victory.

Coach Ed Smith described the loss as “disappointing,” stating “we had opportunities to win, but we just couldn’t get it done.”

The Spartans (3-3) and the Tigers (3-3) were evenly matched.

The difference in the game came

down to making big plays when it mattered. La Cañada was able to convert 4th and goal from the 2-yard line in the 2nd quarter, and South Pasadena failed to score on 1st and goal from the 2 yard-line in the 4th. If the Tigers executed these two crucial plays they would have won the game.

“We had our chances, but we just couldn’t finish. We just have to learn from it and do better next time,” Bednarski said.

South Pasadena looks to better their record in league to 1-1today against Blair at home (2-4). The Vikings also dropped their league opener against Monrovia, losing by a score of 57-0. “I feel confident that we will get our season back on track with a big win against Blair,” Nelson said.

9/23 SPHS v. Cathedral 7-37 L

10/15 SPHS v. La Cañada 21-28 L

Michael Vick and Tiger Woods should be every athlete’s role models. They are, after all, two of the most successful athletes in their respective sports. But unfortunately, many view them as failures. Why? Chiefly because of the poor decisions they made in their personal lives. But not even that justifies a fan’s dislike for a sports star. When an athlete steps onto the field, all of their personal baggage is forgotten.

Tiger Woods, for example, broke every wedding vow he made by having dozens of extra marital affairs with women all over the country. Although Tiger cannot be trusted to adhere to rules outside of the golf course, his achievements, both past and future, stand untarnished. When Tiger finishes his career, a career in which he will most likely set the record for major victories, people may still be questioning his lack of morals, but can never criticize his talent, his competitive spirit, or his work ethic.

Philadelphia Eagles quarterback Michael Vick is another athlete who is unfairly ridiculed. Two years ago, the NFL’s most dangerous running quarterback was caught funding a major

dog-fighting operation and was consequently sentenced to over a year of jail time and hours of additional community service. Despite his blatant flaws, and gruesome actions, Michael Vick can still play football, and still deserves admiration from fans. Unfortunately, there are people who will always root against Vick.

Those same people believe that with the fame sports stars receive comes a responsibility for them to be perfect. This notion, however, is unfair not to mention unrealistic. Athletes achieve stardom thanks to their athletic ability, not their personality.

While I can forgive athletes who make poor decisions outside of their sport, I find it impossible to forgive players who break the rules. Barry Bonds, once the most feared batter in the Major Leagues, is one such athlete. After a season in which he set a single season record by hitting 72 long balls, it was discovered that Bonds had used the human growth hormone HGH. As soon as the news came out, all of Bonds’ accomplishments lost their meaning.

Though he later set the all time record for home runs, Bonds never got a second chance, and he didn’t deserve one. He disrespected the game, and that is unforgivable.

Patrick Martin

By Michael Abelev Staff Writer The moment senior Patrick Martin enters the room, his presence is immediately felt. Standing at 5’11”, weighing in 190 pounds, and exuding obvious masculinity, he resembles what many would call a “college caliber athlete.”

Currently the leading rusher for the Tiger’s football team, he has collected a total of 600 yards, averaging 5.26 yards a carry, and collected 7 touchdowns so far in the season. A fierce competitor on the field, he attributes much of his success to his family and friends.

Martin grew up mainly in Altadena and was exposed to football at a young age thanks to his father. The first football game he ever attended was the 2001 USC game against UCLA, which he clearly remembers USC winning 27-0. As a child, he participated in soccer, volleyball, and baseball. He started baseball at the age of 4 and continued on to his early teens, playing for the

Monterey Park Angels. He was also a part of the travel team, which competed in Ohio, Florida, and even Puerto Rico.

Entering SPHS, he started playing football his freshman year, moving up to varsity midway his sophomore year. Throughout the years of playing on the team, he has created lasting friendships with fellow players, especially offensive linemen, Andrew Hall. Martin credits much of his success to his O-Line: “I love my lineman, they block for me and if it wasn’t for them, there’s not much I can do. I make deals with them that if I run for more than 100 yards in a game, I’ll buy them dinner for the night.”

After high school, Martin hopes to continue on and play football in college, preferably Division I, but knows that he may need to go to a lower division first and work hard to move up. He understands that if football doesn’t work out, he still has the education necessary to continue on in college.

Katie Whitworth

What it looks like to face Martin on the line of scrimmage.

Mercedes Binz

By Joshua Roquemore Staff Writer What does senior Mercedes Binz do best? Volleyball. At 6’3” Binz towers over her competition on the volleyball court. Although unaware of her talent when she began the sport, it appears she was made to play. She is the ideal teammate for any player, and her determination and skill continue to leave her spectators in awe as her last high school season progresses.

Unknown to most, Binz’s volleyball career wasn’t born out of love for the game. She joined volleyball freshman year for the same reason many others have. “At first I just wanted to get out of P.E.,” she says. However, this mild interest has evolved into a fierce competitive attitude. She stands above the average player not only in attitude and drive, but also in height.

While such height may give one an edge

during games, it is sometimes less than ideal for life off the court. “Sometimes I wish I was a couple inches shorter, but I realize it is helpful for volleyball,” Binz says.

This year girls volleyball has had to familiarize themselves with the methods of a new coach. Binz believes this has helped diversify and improve their team’s skills. “I think that the team is getting better having to adapt to a new style of coaching,” she says. “We’re getting better each time we play.”

It is no surprise that Binz has grown and excelled in her sport as a result of her high school experience, but she is happy to announce that high school will not be the end of her volleyball career. She has several scholarship offers and plans to attend and play at either Arizona State University or Florida State University. “[Volleyball] is something that makes me happy, and I want to play for the rest of my life.”

Edmund Mandin- Lee

Binz blocks a spike against her Temple City opponent last Thursday.

20

Tiger - Friday, October 22, 2010

Sports

Sports

Today’s games

SPWP

G. Tennis vs. Monrovia 3:15 Football vs. Blair 7:00 G. Volleyball @ Crescenta Valley Tourny TBA For more sports coverage, visit tigernewspaper.com

Speaking of

Sports

Devin Mitchell Sam Gurley

Pessimistic thoughts about the Dodgers

Tai Carter

Sophomore Pierce Deamer prepares to shoot the ball against San Marino last Tuesday. The Tigers beat the Titans 14-6.

Polo challenging for league title Boys victory against San Marino keeps the race for the title close

By Max White Staff Writer As the Tiger pre-season wound to a close, South Pas pitted itself against some of the toughest teams in the area.

After suffering twin 8-12 losses to Pasadena Polytechnic and Santa Monica High School on September 23 and 28, respectively, the Tigers competed in the El Segundo Tournament, where they finished 3-1.

The first South Pas league game, a hotly contested match versus Temple City on

October 5, went well for the Tigers. The Rams couldn’t hold back an onslaught of orange and black, and fell to South Pas 10-8. Two days later the Tigers added another win to their record in a one-sided match against Monrovia.

South Pas simply outplayed its opponents, blowing the Wildcats out of the water with a lopsided 14-6 victory.

Ye t , l a s t Tu e s d ay ’s match against La Cañada was one of heartbreak for the Tigers. A Tiger victory seemed certain when South

Pas increased its lead to 10-6 with just minutes left in the game. However, the Spartans struck back with 5 unanswered goals, edging out the Tigers 11-10 and handing them their fist league loss. “They beat us at home, and we’re going to do the same to them,” said senior Sean Grab, one of the team’s three captains, after

10/12 SPHS v. La Cañada 10- 11 L

the game.

South Pas bounced back Tuesday when a clearly superior Tiger squad crushed its Titan opponents 14-6, ending the first round of league play.

The Tigers then battled for a 15-4 win over Temple City yesterday, which brought their season record to an impressive 4-1.

10/19 SPHS v. SM 14-6 W

10/ 8 SPHS v. Temple City 14-5 W

Girls volleyball back on track Despite a disappointing start, the girls look to storm back in the second half

By Jake Folsom Senior Staff Writer

and were able to work together for a win. It showed a lot of our strength that we hadn’t seen Although they had a promising before. It pushes us as a team to start to their pre-season, the Lady Tiremain at this level,” said senior gers have now gone 2-3 thus far in their Chloe Lloyd. season. They crushed Blair and Temple “Considering how we City, but fell to La Cañada, San Maplayed in the Monrovia game, rino, and most recently, Monrovia. [we have] a good fighting chance The Tigers readily took to take down La Cañada at their respective positions for the game. home. We have all the great They started off strong, keeping up components of a winning team, with Monrovia throughout the entire Edmond Mandin-Lee we just have to synthesize them,” game. The two teams were very evenly matched, the Tigers’ defense perfectly Senior captain Lana Ho, junior Libby Rainey and freshman said a confident senior captain repelling the Wildcats’ offense. But, Claire Kieffer-Wright await the serve against Temple City. Lana Ho. Although this season has not gone exactly according to victory was not to be had as Monrovia plan, the team still has a chance of making it to every point they gained was well earned and took the first game in a close score of 25-27.

CIF, and fully intends to do so. hard fought.

The Tigers battled on in another har The Tigers had their first victory since rowing game, determined to win their match their battle against Blair in their game against against the Wildcats. The Tigers’ defense played 10/19 Temple City. The Tigers won the match in a spectacularly, blocking ball after ball from Mon10/14/10 convincing performance, beating the Rams 3-0. rovia’s star hitter Tirah Leau. This game was a SPHS SPHS None of the games were even close—the Tigers nail-biter, but the Tigers pulled through with a v. Monrovia v. TC lead in each game by as many as 8 points. “It was win of 25-23. In the end, the Tigers lost games 1-4 L 30 W the first game that we really worked as a team three and four 25-27, losing the match 1-3—but

The Los Angeles Dodgers are noticeably absent from this year’s baseball playoffs after reaching the postseason in 2008 and 2009. They failed to qualify for this year’s festivities, winning just 80 games. To make matters worse, all signs point to the team being just as mediocre in 2011.

The divorce trial of owners Frank and Jamie McCourt has persisted for almost a year, and the club continues to be in limbo. Though the trial has concluded, the judge has until the end of the year to award Frank the team or give each spouse half. But both sides have said they will appeal the decision if they lose, which will only drag out this embarrassing spectacle.

Meanwhile, the front office still cannot significantly increase the payroll to improve the team.

The Dodgers were atrocious offensively at nearly every position last year.

Supposed middle-of-the-order stalwarts Matt Kemp and Andre Ethier regressed from outstanding 2009 campaigns. Both should be better next year; Kemp still has MVP-level talent and Ethier was never the same after he injured his thumb in May, but it’s also an absolute necessity for an otherwise weak-hitting team. James Loney continues to provide an insufficient amount of offense for his first base position, and Casey Blake has aged poorly at third, proving to be an automatic out at times last year. Neither one hits well enough to start on a playoff team, much less a championship squad.

One of the few bright spots of the 2010 team, the starting rotation, will almost certainly be weaker next year. While brilliant young arms Clayton Kershaw and Chad Billingsley are both returning, the Dodgers still need three more starters, either internally or through free agency.

The team doesn’t have the payroll flexibility to sign the two starters that they need, and the candidates within the organization is not great.

Bottom line, it doesn’t look great moving forward. T there isn’t much money to be spent in free agency, and there aren’t any difference-making prospects on the horizon. So if you’re a Dodger fan, don’t be shocked when the season ends in September again next year.

[inside] Read up on golf’s success.

Sam Gurley

page 18

Check out football’s progress.

page 19 Katie Whitworth